vOrophin

Didn't Hudler go to arbitration because he thought he could get more money, but also because he didn't want to play anywhere in the NHL except for Detroit? I remember in the summer the whole thing reeked of a plot to keep Hudler under contract but have him play somewhere else at a high level because of salary cap concerns. Also Hudler got less than half of his points on the PP. Downie is also the league leader in minor penalties, and has 206 PIM on the year, and while I know this shows grit and all that, it is a liability at the same time.

Entire team looks like crap pretty much until the 3rd, just not enough. Can't cool off now or the Wings are done in the 1st round.

ZDH back together, Franzen Fil Bert on the 2nd line... lets see how this works.

The majority of Rafalski's minutes are with Lidstrom. I'm not saying that's the only reason, but it helps him look much better. Rafalski is a solid D man no matter what anyone says on LGW, he makes more errors than Lids and really isn't as good in any way, but he is still good. Maybe not 6 mil good, but on average I'd say he is our 2nd best D man (Kronwall is better on his good days, worse on his not as good days).

15% seems waaay off unless you are buying heavily into the Wings win streak and the Hawks struggling. Mathematically the Wings only have a 7% chance to take the Division even if they win out.

Thank god we won't have to play the Oilers in the playoffs.

Pretty much all of the goaltending in the West is suspect in some way. Nabokov - has shown some inconsistencies, and had a horrible game in the last big game he was in (Olympics) Huet/Niemi - Huet is Huet, Niemi looks good but is unproven Luongo - Below average year and hasn't been proven as a playoff performer Bryzgalov - Hasn't been in a playoff game in years Rinne - Never played in a playoff game Howard/Osgood - Never played in a playoff game/Has not played much this year Quick - Never played in a playoff game Anderson - Never played in a playoff game Kiprusoff - Not going to make the playoffs

So... everyone knows Howard is in the running for the Calder, but looking at the stats what about the Vezina? He's 4th right now in both GAA and Sv%, and 9th in wins (less starts than all above him), and a few of the spots above him for GAA and Sv% are backups. I know Miller is probably a lock for it, and others like Bryz, Vokoun, etc might be considered before him, but anyone think it is a possibility that he is a finalist?

The Hair, the Beard, and the Missing teeth.

Wings are either going to win 5-1 or lose 3-0. No other outcome is possible vs a rookie goalie with terrible stats.

I doubt there are any large signings in the offseason, though I would not be against it. Seeing a Z/Filpulla/Hudler line would be sick though, Hudler put up 57 and Fil put up 40 with Sammy, imagine the damage they might be able to do with Z...

While I do think teams would like to avoid the Wings, I think setting bad habits and taking a losing streak into the playoffs or losing home ice would weigh on their mind more than facing the Wings.

Haha, fantastic. I hope he's signed just for the opportunity to use those.

I always looked at Fil as more of a passer/playmaker without a real scoring touch, it seemed that Hudler had him beat in that regard, which to me makes Hudler a bit better offensively.

From the way he's described he sounds like a mix of Helm and Hudler, which I would love to see. There is very little downside to trying to sign this guy unless he demands a big contract, which coming out of the SEL I doubt he can do.

Flames win, I am just glad the game didn't go to OT.

Ozzie is probably a better option than anyone else the Wings could have for the same price. Realistically, other goalies in that price range will have had worse careers than Osgood, and be just as inconsistent if not worse. Either than or they will be someone in their first years in the league. Also wondering what people are going to think if Howard keeps playing like he is (top 10 goalie in the league stats) and we have to give him a much bigger contract in the coming years. 2.1 on a goalie pair will likely be a dream in a few years.

And if you did the same for the other players on the roster this year they would have the same point totals they had last year, barring games missed due to injury. The Wings are scoring less this year, everyone's point totals are lower. That is what I meant by him probably not putting up as many points this year.

I think having his 57 points would have been pretty nice this year, although I'm guessing he would not have that many this year (if he managed to remain healthy). Hoping he comes back to the Wings and is a better player than before.

35-40 is quite reasonable given what we've seen him do in the past few years including postseason. I could see him being able to get to 50 with a "career year" as people like to call it. It would help to have him with Datsyuk to get those numbers, and if Datsyuk was playing well too.

I would say Nick is the best defensive defenseman in the game now, but several are now better offensively. Either way he is still amazing for a 39 year old. Also honorable mention for Chelios since they can't do a 45+ list.

Sharks now winning with 7:30 to go. Nashville outshooting the Sharks 42-21 in the game. edit: tied again edit again a minute later: Pavelski scores, Sharks up 6-5

Sharks tie it up. Lets hope they can win it now in regulation (that feels weird saying that).

Well, typical way to end the period.

Shouldn't be, hit the glass before going out of play.